Netherlands

Just hour after anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders was convicted of insulting and incting discrimination against Maroccans, moments ago the local police announced they have arrested a man in Rotterdam, suspected of planning a terrorist attack. Law enforcement found a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an Islamic State flag while raiding the man’s house.

A Dutch court convicted politician Geert Wilders of insulting and incting discrimination against Maroccans, but it imposed no penalty on him while clearing him of inciting hatred. Wilders was charged regarding a 2014 incident in which he urged his supporters to chant they wanted “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” Moroccans in the Netherlands.

The calls to lift the sanctions and improve the relationship with Moscow are growing stronger. The EU has started turning toward Russia. The trend is becoming increasingly apparent. The recent events clearly demonstrate that Russia and Europe are on the threshold of a new era in the history of their relationship.

"I sometimes feel like ‘The Grim Reaper’, scouring the research savannah in a ghoulish quest to harvest bad news with a forceful sweep of my scythe. Imagine then my perverse delight when our credit team produced what is one of the scariest charts I have seen for a very long time." = Albert Edwards

A populist tsunami is washing through Europe. It will drastically change the Continent’s political landscape in a way not seen since before World War II. This wave will flush away traditional “mainstream” parties and usher in anti-establishment populists who want to leave the euro currency and the European Union.

"After a year in which reality has managed to surpass even seemingly unlikely calls, 2017 may be a wakeup call which sees a real departure from the 'business as usual'..." Will this be the year when China exceeds growth expectations, Brexit turns into Bremain, the Mexican peso soars and Italian banks turn out to the best performing equity asset class?

NATO is on a war footing, and has made it clear that «nuclear weapons are a core component of the Alliance’s overall capabilities». The Belgian F-16 deployments, deliberately and provocatively in a most sensitive area on Russia’s borders, have been authorised and greeted with approval by western governments whose citizens have little understanding that the west’s policy of confrontation is increasing tension day by day.

On the same day Matteo Renzi suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of alleged “populists” in Italy, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble ruled out debt relief for Greece ahead of a eurozone finance minister meeting.

Austria voted against the anti-immigrant Freedom Party candidate Hofer in today's presidential election race which became the latest test of rising anti-establishment forces in Europe. A mapped breakdown shows that most of Austria voted for Hofer, however it was the big cities that again came to Van der Bellen's aid.

"It's crazy. This is the explosion of an era. It's the apocalypse of the media, TV, the big newspapers, the intellectuals, the journalists… This is a wide-ranging F*** off." Italy is the next flashpoint. A “No” vote in Italy is virtually assured at this point. But it won’t be the end of the anti-elite surge. Voters in Europe’s biggest countries could soon throw out their “mainstream” parties in favor of populist and Eurosceptic alternatives...